No golf? No problem Restaurant at Eberhart-Petro caters to golfers and non-golfers

July 10, 2006|KIM KILBRIDE Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA Granted, menu items include an "It's a birdie" grilled chicken breast sandwich, the "Out of Bounds" pork tenderloin and a "Water Hazard" pub-battered fish basket. But, the Eberhart Grille is not just for golfers. That misnomer has been the biggest obstacle for Lynett and John Heritz to overcome. They're the owners of the restaurant with a great river view at Eberhart-Petro Municipal Golf Course in Mishawaka. The restaurant is open -- to everyone -- daily for lunch and five evenings a week for dinner. In nice weather, diners flock to the outside deck overlooking the St. Joseph River. And, often, on weekends, the Heritzes host and cater small banquets in the dining room. Denise Graves, a regular at Eberhart Grille, along with her husband, Russ Graves, said the restaurant is the best-kept secret in Mishawaka. "Seeing the different seasons (as you sit overlooking the river) is beautiful there," she said. "I'm in real estate and I love being able to tell people about it." While the restaurant's aesthetics are one of its most positive features, she said the grilled shrimp is also great. The Heritzes, meanwhile, are in their fifth season of owning and managing Eberhart Grille. Lynett said she and her husband have golfed at Eberhart for years. "When they built the deck," she said, "I said 'wouldn't it be nice if we could have a restaurant here.'" They expressed their interest to city officials and when the previous owners' contract expired, the Heritzes were invited on board. The first summer the couple ran the grill, they simply continued offering concessions. "We got feedback that people wanted more than that, though," Lynett said. So, the next season, the she and her husband canvassed the neighborhood with fliers about a pork chop grill they were hosting on the deck. The response was good. Eventually, the menu grew from a few items to a host of dinner entrees from apple-lemon chicken sausage to sautéed lake perch to barbecued ribs. A variety of sandwiches and baskets are also available for both lunch and dinner. Some popular options include the "LPGA Favorite," which is a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich on apple pie bread, a coconut shrimp basket and "A Touch of Thanksgiving," which is smoked turkey on cranberry-walnut bread with herbed cream cheese and cranberry-orange relish. The restaurant's "signature dish" is spicy whitefish. It's pan grilled with olives, tomato and red-pepper flakes, and was created "accidentally," the owners said. Lynett is a natural in the kitchen. When she was a child, her aunt owned a restaurant in Mishawaka. She remembers her mother doing all of the baking for that establishment. Later, her in-laws also owned a restaurant. And, after having waitressed herself for a number of years and working in the catering industry, she opened the Rose Arbor Tea Room in Mishawaka in the early '90s. That endeavor continued on until around the time she and her husband founded Eberhart Grille. For her, the best part of being a restaurant owner is wearing the chef's hat. "I don't enjoy the odds and ends you have to do to run a business," she said. "Put me in the kitchen and shut the door." On second thought, though, she said she really does love to be out amongst the customers. "We've really made some good friends here," she said, looking around the dining room.Staff writer Kim Kilbride: kkilbride@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6554